Flash 8 poised to take on Web video With a big launch early next month for Flash 8 that emphasizesWeb video, Macromedia could challenge Microsoft, Real and Apple. Macromedia plans to unveil its Flash 8 software early next month with an emphasis on video capabilities that some think could up-end the Web video market.

Macromedia is expected to announce the latest version of its signature Flash software Aug. 8, or 8/8, and release the software a few weeks later, said a source familiar with the company's plans.

The familiar-looking Motorola A910 is a Linux-based smartphone with built in WiFi and a 1.3 megapixel camera. And we say "familiar" because it is physically almost identical to the we saw last month.

There's a different emphasis here - "A" series phones tend to be more business orientated than "E" series devices which are pitched more at the entertainment market. Although, we're pretty certain that apart from some minor cosmetic differences, the A910 and E895 are identical except for the WiFi capabilities in the Motorola A910. (Except the A910 doesn't appear to have EDGE)

The initial founders of Mobi JV consist ofNokia, Microsoft and Vodafone (“Founders”). However, there are a number of keyinvestors joining the Founders, including 3, GSM Association, Hewlett Packard,Orange, Samsung, SUN Microsystems, T-Mobile, TIM and others. Information aboutthis investment opportunity has been widely distributed to industryparticipants from all areas of the mobile community, including operators,service providers, device manufacturers, and content and technology providers.

The sponsored TLD community to be served by the mobile specific domain namespace is limited to the following stakeholders:

* Individual and business consumers of mobile devices, services andapplications* Mobile content and service providers* Mobile operators* Mobile device manufacturers and vendors* IT technology and software vendors who serve the mobile community

Flash and Mobile This is what Stephen Elop said about flashlite and mobile market :During the course of the June quarter, 9 additional partners made commitments for the use of Flash Lite or the Flash SDK on mobile phones, on televisions and a variety of devices including MP3 players. These new partnerships also included two major strategic wins that, out of respect for the confidentiality requested by our customers, we will not specifically disclose at this time.

For example, over the last several years a complete ecosystem around FlashLite has developed in Japan. The development of this ecosystem has involved ourselves, the operators like DoCoMo and KDDI, the handset manufacturers, content creators, content aggregators and ultimately the consumers of these devices and experiences. Once an ecosystem like this is established and primed, tremendous value is then created over a very long period of time as the demand for more multimedia content drives new forms of interactive applications, and new business models emerge to satisfy the demand, all in a classic virtuous cycle of innovation.

We heard one recent estimate that over $1bn in value has already been created around the Flash mobile ecosystem in Japan to date. To be successful with our mobile efforts in the long term, we have to help foster these same ecosystems in other major geographies around the world. This implies working not only with the device manufacturers, but also with the operators and the content creators in order to establish these same virtuous cycles in other geographic markets, particularly in the US and Europe. It also implies that Macromedia must continue to extend its Flash platform offerings so that we can continue to increase our monetization of this opportunity.

Sales of cell phones are on pace to reach a billion annually by the end of the decade, when nearly 40 percent of the world's population will own a mobile handset, according to a Gartner report.

Asian countries will continue to play a major role in increasing the number of cell phones in circulation to 2.6 billion by 2009, the research firm estimated in the report, released Tuesday. Currently, 25 percent of all cell phones are sold in Asian countries; by decade's end, that number will be one in three, Gartner analysts said.

Overall, the findings bolster the cell phone's status as the world's most popular electronic device. Mobile handsets have already eclipsed cameras, personal computers and even traditional landline phones in sales.

Gartner's predictions come with an important caveat: Wholesale prices for handsets have to decrease from an average of about $174 each in 2004 to about $161 by 2009. In the United States, especially, handsets are typically discounted so heavily that they end up costing consumers nothing. Operators can only afford to continue to do that, and keep sales growing, if the price they pay for each one drops.